The Philadelphia Housing Authority has found a way to
accelerate the pace of developing and preserving homes for
low-income families, seniors, and disabled citizens - working with
over 25 partner organizations, including the Archdiocese of
Philadelphia which developed St. Francis Villa for seniors in
Kensington. The majority of PHA funding for partners' developments
comes from the Housing Choice Voucher program formerly referred to
as Section 8.Photo credit: Cecil Baker + Partners and Matt
Wargo, Catholic Philly.com

This initiative is part of PHA's "6 in 5"
program﻿

(PHILADELPHIA-November 21, 2016) - The
Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) has found a way to accelerate
the pace of developing and preserving homes for low-income
families, seniors, and disabled citizens - working with partner
organizations. The agency is in the midst of a multi-year
plan in which it is working with over 25 organizations to create
and support over 2,300 affordable housing units.

"With Philadelphia's high poverty rate, the city has a continuous
and urgent need to expand affordable housing opportunities," said
PHA President and CEO Kelvin Jeremiah. "However, as an agency we
know we can't build everything ourselves. Instead, we are
working collaboratively with like-minded organizations that share
our mission and vision so we can build, preserve and support more
homes for those who desperately need them at a faster pace."

When PHA launched its "6 in 5" Program in 2013, pledging to add
6,000 units over a five-year period, the agency began a concerted
effort to generate partnership opportunities for the development
and preservation of low-income homes. Many of these
partnership projects are now coming to fruition. In addition,
many of these developments are combined with supportive services
provided on-site for the residents.

The majority of PHA funding for these developments comes from
the Housing Choice Voucher program formerly referred to as Section
8.

The homes being built, preserved and supported under these PHA
partnerships are in addition to PHA's own development work,
including the historic transformation of the Sharswood neighborhood
in North Philadelphia where PHA and its partners are building 1,200
units over a period of several years. The first 57 of those homes
will open later this month.

"We are using every tool available to us to meet the goal we
have set for ourselves to create 6,000 housing opportunities.
That also means developing our own properties, rehabbing hundreds
of homes that we own around the city and working hand-in-hand with
our partners," Jeremiah said.